This disclosure relates generally to an audio reproduction system and specifically relates to a system that selectively reproduces an audio from a particular direction.
In an environment with multiple sound sources, a listener may encounter trouble tuning into a particular sound source while tuning out sounds from other sound sources. Such phenomenon is known as a cocktail party effect. Although binaural processing of sounds detected at left and right ears enable auditory focusing to a certain degree, it becomes increasingly difficult to decipher sound from a source of interest as the number of sound sources and the level of interfering sound increases.
The cocktail party effect may pose a more acute problem for people with partial hearing loss. The hearing loss may be attributable to factors such as aging, trauma and hereditary defects. People with hearing impairment would be more severely impacted when there are sound sources that interfere with the sound source that the person wants to tune in.